I use materials that are capable of dramatic visual transformation, choosing to emphasise transience at the level of materials
and objects as well as within the viewer’s direct experience. I repeat processes as well as objects to emphasise the truth that no
thing or experience can in fact be repeated, each is unique and utterly fleeting. Sometimes the ‘same’ sculpture is repeated so that
the viewer experiences it twice in differing contexts. The time lag between viewing places the attention on unfolding experience
rather than on the idea of a unique autonomous object. The differing contexts also change the perception of the work as well
as the way in which it is experienced, one for example might be walked on and barely noticed, likening it to a grille in a door
threshold, the other ‘identical’ object is on the wall and looked at, reminding us of modernist abstraction, and likely to be taken
seriously in a gallery context.
Much of my work brings attention to unfolding transient experience, rusting steel continues to decay, glass reflects the changing
light and complicates the visual field with its fluid changeability. Dyed water of the same dark red inside bottles fades unevenly
over the weeks.
The use of a minimalist aesthetic helps to highlight subtle change and difference while the use of long lines helps to exaggerate
the changing perspectives of the viewer as they walk around the space.

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Art Reveal Magazine

Briefly describe the work you do.
I use glass, burnt wood, mild steel, paper
and liquid – materials that are capable of
dramatic transformation. The intention
is to emphasize transience at the level of
materials and objects as well as within
the viewer’s direct experience. I repeat
processes as well as objects to stress that
no thing or experience can really be repeated, each is unique and utterly fleeting. Sometimes the same sculpture is repeated so that the viewer experiences it
twice in differing contexts. The time lag
between the two viewings places attention
on unfolding experience rather than on
the idea of an autonomous object.
The differing contexts change the perception of the work as well as the way in
which it is experienced. One, for example,
might be walked on and barely noticed,
like a grille on a doorstep, while its twin is
placed on the wall and looked at, reminding us of modernist abstraction, and the
way any object can be taken seriously in a
gallery. Much of my work draws attention
to unfolding transient experience, as well
as emphasizing changeability at the level
of basic materials: rusting steel continues to decay, glass reflects the changing
light and complicates the visual field with
its fluid mutability. Dyed water, poured
into bottles, starts off the same dark red,
but then fades unevenly over the weeks.
A minimalist aesthetic helps to highlight
subtle change and difference, while long
lines help to exaggerate the changing
perspectives of the viewer as they walk
around the space.
How has your background influenced
you?
I was a Buddhist nun for 11 years and most
of the monastic training was about developing awareness of transience, transience
of a thought, a smell, a mood, a sight. The
ultimate aim of which was to bring about
an understanding of non-self at a fundamental level, that is, the non-existence of
anything permanent within experience.
This is an understanding that things in
the world, as well as selves, are ultimately concepts – tools for operating, not the
reality of present-moment experience. The
fixity that concepts imply, the concept of
self or a thing, be it a table, a chair or a
mountain, is not substantiated when ongoing sensory and mental experience is examined closely. This philosophical training permeates all my work as an artist.

I also worked as a landscape designer,
where the notion of ongoing maintenance
is completely taken for granted. Several
of my works fully embrace the constantly changing nature of things to the extent
that they need work and care to maintain
them, for instance polishing shiny metal to
retain a reflective surface when its natural
inclination is to grow dull and rust. Natural processes such as rusting, reflecting,
burning, and chemical changes in liquid
over time: these are integral to my work.
My first BA degree in painting continues
to show even though my MFA (completed
in 2014) was primarily about materials
and therefore three-dimensional. I continue to emphasize surface texture, and
surface reflection, without much attention
to weight or volume. My primary interest
is in the way the visual field keeps shifting
and dancing.
Do you think of yourself as a conceptual artist?
In a strange way my work uses concepts
in an attempt to challenge the belief in the
reality of concepts, or the permanence
and fixity that concepts imply. For example the concept of an artwork that is on
the wall of a gallery space is undermined
by placing the same thing on the floor in a
door threshold, so that the concept changes and it becomes a foot grille. The concept, or label, is completely dependent on
the context. I’m interested in highlighting
the fact that concepts are just tools, necessary tools to order the flux of experience,
but tools nonetheless.
I try to avoid representation – the material is the material and it is not there to
represent anything else. In this sense,
my work is not heavily conceptual. Of
course different labels and associations
will arise in the mind of the viewer, depending on their own experiences, but
as far as possible I try to let the material
do the talking, presenting it in a way that
highlights its transient nature. This transience is the concept. Time is a concept,
and transience is a concept too: they are
inextricably linked.
How has your work changed in the past
years?
I’ve moved away from making a single
object. Instead I’ve been using the wall
and the floor for one work, as well as two
rooms to display one work. This allows

the work to be experienced over time, it
cannot all be seen or touched at once, it
is something that unfolds; at one moment
there are colours and shapes through the
eyes, and at another moment, there are
pressures in the feet; these separate sensory experiences are then given a label, a
label that implies one fixed thing, as well
as a solid reliable, objective world. In the
work that is situated in two rooms, the
perception changes as the context changes. Where the room is a gallery, close
attention is given and the glass work is
highlighted; in the room that is a corridor, the glass work looks similar to all the
glass doors in that corridor and is barely
registered. The same thing is never the
same.
How would you describe the art scene
in your area?
My area is London and Bath, I go between
the two. Bath Spa University is incredibly
dynamic and forward-looking, offering
residencies and awards and generally
supporting its alumni very well. London
is of course London, exciting, stimulating,
with an endless supply of contemporary
art to see.
In your opinion what does art mean in
contemporary culture?
The term is used to cover such a broad
spectrum that anything might be called
Art. For me, Marina Abramović uses it
to increase attentiveness and Roni Horn
uses it to question fixed identities and to
underline transience and the ephemeral;
I find both very inspiring.
What exhibitions have you had since
your MA and what are your future
plans?
Since I graduated with distinction in
2014, I’ve been working full-time as an
artist, exhibiting widely across the UK
with commissions in Cornwall and at
Kew Gardens and exhibitions in London
at Beaux Art Gallery, the Oxo Tower Gallery and the Nunnery Gallery, as well as
galleries and a museum in the cities of
Bath, Bristol and Oxford. I am currently
working on a commission to commemorate the storm of 2014 in Porthleven as
well as making paper and graphite works
that break down the separation of drawing and sculpture.

My mission is to make Mosaics ROCK. I want to show this art to the world under a whole new
light: no longer as a static piece, but rather as a work of art which can be incredibly richâ&#x20AC;Ś
the very nature of its texture and just the subtle tilt of a tile allow for different colours, reflections
and shades depending on the angle of sight: chances are that no two viewers will see
it the same way at the same time.
Torn between optimism and surrender, I am haunted by the idea of mankindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imminent
self-destruction. Yet, I still believe in a future for humanity of resourceful innovation through
recycling and upcycling. I am fascinated by the colours and textures of both artificial and natural
elements, which I enthusiastically hunt for in everyday life and restlessly play with in new
combinations, pairing and contrasting noble material with rubbish. My aim is to prove their
reciprocal need, how rubbish is a relative definition and how it can be turned into something
useful, fun and even beautiful.
The long time it takes to create a mosaic is both a challenge and a bliss. As I start a piece
I ache with ideas I want to realise: however it takes discipline, a critical eye and a lot of
patience to transform them into artwork. Yet by the time I finish the piece, it is mind-blowing
to see how just one of those ideas has pushed me to experiment in so many different ways that
not only I feel pleasantly enriched with new skills, but also my fingers itch to get onto the next
piece to start afresh with the next idea.
Whilst developing my own style, I cannot help pushing myself beyond my creative boundaries:
experimenting with different subjects, colours, materials, textures, depth, tools or methods...
this is now my personal shortcut to happiness.

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Art Reveal Magazine

Art Reveal Magazine

When, how and why started your art
practice?
Believe it or not, I only cut my first tile
in August 2015. Whilst visiting the amazing Basilica of Aquileia, in Friuli, Italy
(again after decades) and its beautiful
mosaics, I brought home a bag of preset material to reproduce the “Pavoncelle” (Lapwings). I had no idea of how
to do it, but I was irresistibly drawn to
it. After 5 consecutive days and nights, I
was hooked! The feeling I got from playing with the texture, tridimensionality,
shades, smells and overall richness of
the materials blew me away.
So, I immediately looked for a place
where I could learn more about it: I
found Southbank Mosaics in London, an
incrmacedibly inspirational place which
I still regularly attend twice a week and
to which I feel I owe most of my achievements, and where I obtained my first Certificate. I also started attending as many
courses as possible at the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli in Spilimbergo (Italy): the
incredible skills and beauty that perspire
in each piece, room, wall and corridor
of that place are a caress to one’s soul.
I then attended a delightful course in
Turkey with Ingi at Ocean House, and
I am always looking for more…Why?
Because, after pursuing an education in
Classics and Law to try to make up for
what I believed I naturally lacked in my
character (such as attention to form and
detail rather than to content and emotion), I felt an evergrowing, overwhelming urge to follow my natural propension
for creativity and emotion: I feel I have
finally found my calling, and I am driven
by an unsatiable need to learn more and
to constantly push both my technical and
creative boudaries. It is both a rush and
a necessity, a real obsession.
What is your creative process like?
At the beginning I focused my efforts on
eagerly learning methods and technique,
so I would choose the subjects based
on my learning needs: how to cut with
different tools, andamenti, colour theories… As I gained more confidence, I
started experimenting with unusual material, incorporating intriguing pieces of
‘rubbish’ in the works, which led me to
experimenting with texture and depth.
The results were pleasing to the eye, but

not what I aimed for: I wanted to be an
artist, which I believe by definition to be
a restless soul who feels the overwhelming need to externalise his/her feelings, whether to follow or appease his/
her emotional or intellectual turmoil. It
could be a sophisticated theory or pure
raw basic emotion, but it will be a message as strong as the artist can manage
to convey. Whichever way, the purpose
of art is for this message to come out in
order to provoke something in the viewers - to make them feel and/or think. The
breakthough for me came with “Lust for
Life (Frida)”, where I had to express
what I felt better represented Frida Khalo. Oddly enough, it was the piece which
at that time took me less to do, because it
was entirely my creation - and I had it so
clear in my mind!
This is why, now, EXPRESSION - whether of a concept or of an emotion - is my
primary aim. I start a piece as soon as
I have that “Eureka!” feeling about one
of them. My head is constantly spinning
with messages and themes to express. I
always work on at least two pieces at a
time, as it is the only way to appease my
eagerness, calm my mind and keep it focused at the same time.
In your opinion, what does painting
mean in contemporary culture?
Is it essential to life? No. Is it essential
for living? Yes! I truly believe it is essential for our evolution. Not only it is a witness of the current moment in history, but
it represents valuable food for thought.
In my view, it has the same weight as philosophy, sports, playing and laughing. It
exercises your brain and your heart. It
helps seeing life in a rounder way, looking beyond our basic duties and needs,
putting our individual existence into a
common context. It allows you to apply
your judgement freely and hopefully to
express it just as freely, in a context without prejudice. Or so it should be.
Name three artists you’d like to be
compared to.
I already feel flattered by being called
‘artist’, let alone being compared to a
Master! But, since we are all allowed
to dream…I would have to start with
Michelangelo: not only he was both a
sculptor and a painter - therefore prac-

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ticing the two forms of fine art which in
my opinion define the range of action of
mosaics - but he also seemed to have this
gift of identifying each shade and vein in
the marble and turning them into the perfect line, shape or even expression of his
works, creating such masterpieces that
it is impossible not to feel his anguish
when he supposedly threw his hammer
to his Moses’ knee, crying “why are you
not speaking to me?!?”. I have yet to find
a sculture as moving as La Pieta’…if I
could only have a little of his talent…
The second one would have to be Van
Gogh. For two reasons: first, his underlying reference to pointillism, which can
easily be compared with mosaics if not,
at least, for the need to mix pieces of different colours to obtain certain shades
which are not otherwise available. Secondly, for the way his bold strokes turned
this reference into something strong,
personal, and unfailingly charged with
some extraordinary energy. What I see in
his masterpieces is an obsessive strive to
recreate an overwhealming stupor about
the wondrousness of everything he painted, from the sky to a chair, as if he had
just seen them for the first time. I would
dare say that if you do not like Van Gogh,
you have lost contact with the child inside you…
Which brings me to my third choice: children, any and all of them. Spontaneuos,
immediate and essential: their capacity
to recreate a situation or an emotion in
just a few lines is mind-blowing. I do not
say this with the love of a mother, but
rather as an envious competitor who understands she is doomed to lose time and
time again, and that what she had she
inevitably traded for living life. If only
we could turn back time…or perhaps, try
again in the next life!
How would you describe the art scene
in your area?
Unfortunately, I think that mosaic is
highly under-rated and unknown to
most: people seem to think of it either as
a thing of the past (Roman and Bizantine times) or as a shower splashback in
contemporary times. But it has SO much
more potential than what it is currently
known for… Few people understand the
work and studies that go behind it: mosaics are a synthesis between full (tile) and
empty (gaps), each tile is cut precise-

ly based on the lines and shades of the
image, colours are paired or contrasted
based on the desired outcome: even the
grout, if used, can be of different colours
within the same piece as an additional
tool for highlighting, contrasting or saturating a given area in the piece.
It is a niche market, as the materials
themself are heavy and expensive, and
the work is time-consuming: these factors
are reflected in the price, which makes
it harder for this art to be divulged to
the general public. The vast majority of
mosaic artists live on commission-based
work, which I think is a shame: they cannot allow themselves the freedom to go
beyond what is asked of them, and take
their work to its full potential. When
I stare in awe at the pieces from the third
year students at the Scuola Mosaicisti
del Friuli, for example, I wonder how
many of them will later be allowed in
life to freely and fully use those stunning
capabilities…or whether they will be
forced by market demands to limit their
potential to being highly skilled artisans,
in order to make a living.
What advice can you give to those who
are just starting out in the arts?
Mosaics require a lot of patience: but
if you like it, time will fly! Try a class
first: chances are that you will either love
it or hate it. The lack of free hand movement directly on the surface can be very
frustrating…but if you like textures, you
might just love to feel the materials… the
tools might fit like a natural prosthesis…
then, it can be the most fun jigsaw ever!
Find teachers from different schools.
Learn the basics about andamento,
methods, and colours. Experiment.
Try all tools and all materials. To give
you an idea, hammer and hardie are
essential with marble and stones, and for
anything thick: they allow you to work the
shapes in all three dimensions. Cutters
are great for thinner material and tiles,
and wheeled ones allow you to curve.
Look at the things that surround you with
a fresh eye and an open mind: chances
are, you will find beauty where you least
expected to…
So, my biggest advice is: ALWAYS be
open to all suggestions, NEVER take anything for granted, learn and try as much
as you can, and then - MAKE IT YOURS!

What are your future plans?
As a must: always to re-use, up-cycle
and re-cycle as much as possible.
In the short term, I want to work on a
concept which has haunted me for almost
30 years, and which in my opinion is especially relevant in these current dark
times, namely history repeating itself:
Machiavelli, Kant and Hegel in particular offer some stimulating arguments on
our individual inability to learn from it
and to see the big picture, yet with different approaches and outcomes. For
example, Hegel believes that our intrinsec miopy will inevitably be corrected by
providence: I would like to reproduce this
as a spring, to represent how, at different
times in history, we find ourselves at the
same point but on a different level, each
one getting closer to ‘correction’: from a
technical point of view, I am looking forward to playing with depth. Where this
evolution will take us, no-one knows I am troubled by the thought that it will
lead us to our self-destruction, but relieved at the tought that, just as with the
Big Bang, our end will coincide with
a new beginning. And this is yet another
intriguing project with multiple aspects
to tackle: the synthesis between our ingenuity and our miopy, our natural limitations and our incredible capacity to abstract, our natural individual differences
(such as taste) and the obvious threads
which connect us all both as a species
and as elements of Nature. Our sharing of
the same, underlying energy. Whether the
consciousness aquired by the fragments
of energy, which I like to believe get encapsulated in each of us as individuals
at birth, is retained by the Whole after
death…and always, always, the need to
keep an open mind and an open heart towards anyone and anything: I see this as
the only way to retain our freedom, especially in times when we think we are free
whilst we are kept sedated by the preoccupation of money, and controlled by fear.
In the medium term, I would really like
to learn how to make an eco-friendly
adhesive, and work on bigger pieces.
In the long term, I want to keep learning, for as long as I live! And, of course,
to have a solo exhibition at the Tate…;)
NEVER stop dreaming!

www.francescabusca.com

Pablo
Caviedes

New York, USA

My artistic process reflects my life experience in that it is constantly shifting and being shaped by the cultures of the places
in which I have lived - Ecuador (my native country), Paris, Barcelona, and currently New York. It developed through the study
of concepts and subjects that either touched or intrigued me, such as the coexistence of human beings with nature. This is evident
in my longer series of works “Entre blanco oscuro y Negros claros,” “Los Ungulados,” “Griots,” “Silencio,” “Bridges and
Ways,” “Mannequin,” “Nomada,” and more recently “On the Map.” Some address issues involving social matters, such as the
serious political and economic crisis that led to the largest migration in Ecuador, and, in my latest series, the complexity of the
origins and identity of the American people as a product of on-going immigration, while others are explorations in aesthetics,
such as my study of monochromatic colors. Through each work, I sought to provoke some kind of reaction from the viewer
- reflection, questioning, empathy, sensitivity – with which to form the basis of a new understanding or perspective on the topic.
The mediums I use have been greatly influenced by my exposure to various cultures, which has widened my horizons and led
to the adoption of various techniques. While I use mainly painting, drawing, etching, sculpture, art object, and installations,
I have also used digital art, 3D painting, and animation video to develop a visual language. These techniques have enabled me
to express my philosophy of life.

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Art Reveal Magazine

Briefly describe the work you do.
My work has a strong connection with my
life and the experience of living in different places and cultures. This has widened
my horizons as an artist and influenced
my choice of various techniques. While
I do mainly painting, drawing, etching,
sculpture, art object, and art installations,
I have also used digital art, 3D painting,
and animation video in my process. These
techniques have enabled me to develop my
own visual language and express my philosophy of life. Through each work, I hope
to provoke some kind of reaction from the
viewer on the topics which touch me, or
intrigue me - such as social matters, the
coexistence of human beings with nature,
or the historical and cultural complexity
of immigration to United States. The last
one has become the major motive in my
recent series of works. Through my art I
intent to inspire reflection, questioning,
empathy and sensitivity.
When, how and why started your art
practice?
As far as I remember, being a child, I always looked for the opportunity to find
myself a quiet space regardless of where
I was, so I could draw or paint with any
simple tools I could find. Obviously I had
no understanding of what art meant at
that time. At the age of eight my teacher
acknowledged my artistic skills when she
needed my help in preparing the project
for the art class. Based on the pictures
that she gave me, I was asked to copy
those images in enlarged size, on the
blackboard with color chalks, so the rest
of the students could refer to it while doing
their own individual copies. When I was
sixteen I already knew that I wanted to
become an artist and I made a conscious
decision of getting my art education and
experience at Daniel Reyes Instituto de
Artes Plásticas. After completing my
studies there I was actively participating
in art exhibitions and competitions. As a
result, at the age of 23, I won the Paris
Award which was considered the highest
acknowledgement for the artist under 40
in Ecuador at that time. This award led
me to the scholarship at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, Paris,
(France), where I had the opportunity to
study etching with the great artist, Jean
Pierre Tanguy. At the same time, I had

a chance to get introduced to the world of
art “first hand” – I visited museums, art
galleries and traveled to other European
art venues. Since then, I have been showing and developing my art work internationally while New York City has been my
home for the last 14 years.
Do you think of yourself as a conceptual artist?
Concept plays an important part in my
artistic process. As a favorite tool to
achieve the intended idea while working
on a project, I consider a metaphor. It
allows me to be open for playfulness, a
little teasing and even some sort of adventure of developing some picaresque
surprise and this way invite the viewers
to reflect and even experience the process
of change. Independently, I care about
the physical and technical quality of the
work itself as well, its representational
form and its potential to evoke feelings,
emotional connections and the intellectual experience.
How has your work changed in the
past years?
Experimenting and exploring new options in my artistic process are part of
my nature. I have accomplished a variety
of art series which differ in concepts and
technique which to some extend where

influenced by my exposure to various
cultures as well as the personal experience. From grey, monochromatic period
in my early years back in Ecuador to a
more colorful palette which I have developed inspired by moving to New York
City. Most recently, I have created a series of 3D paintings as well as digital art
works and animation films. Those works
are a new experience for me as an artist
and are part of my current and probably
most important art series, inspired by the
United States immigration issues which I
have titled “On the Map.”
How would you describe the art scene
in your area?
I have lived in New York City since 2003,
after experiencing life and its art scene
in two major European cities – Paris
and Barcelona as well as exploring other
culturally significant places. I believe it
is very crucial for any artist to see first
hand the achievements of world art and
have an opportunity to identify your own
possibilities regardless of where you
originally come from. New York seems to
be a dream of all artists. There is no other place that would generate more energy and stimulation. It is a “melting pot”
with a colorful ethnic panorama and its
richness of culture, languages, food with
an easy access to the enormous amount
of cultural programing and offers. It is

Art Reveal Magazine

known as a center of diversity and opportunities. For some, the famous “New
York, New York” song lyrics: “If I can
make it there, I’ll make it anywhere”
happen to be true. It is a place with unlimited amount of art venues and at the
same time very strong competition which
requires the highest quality of offer from
the artist.
In your opinion what does art mean in
contemporary culture?
In contrast with the preceding, twentieth
century, “modern world” culture characterized by richness of trends, raptures
and a vertigo of art proposals, we are
now living in the globalized world, dominated by the mass and virtual screens
trends, intertwined by invisible networks
in which the human being is increasingly individualized and dependent of the
hyper-frantic digital systems. Those
systems, which at any time and distance
connect us, ironically, disconnect us and
uproot us from that other, more tangible reality - the physical, earthly and a

spiritual one, the one with the organic
essence of being and an ability to preserve a coexistence in harmony with
everything that surrounds us in this immense and at the same time small environment called Earth. Art has perhaps
more that ever significant role to play
now to help preserve, “Pachamama,”
as the native South American people call
Mother Earth, which is our only home,
from a serious danger of deep, irreversible marks resulting from our alienated,
disproportionate consuming, accumulating and voracious systems of living.
In that context, art can have special
meaning in our contemporary world, if
we could take advantage of and optimize
the same resources created by the virtual
culture to forge proposals that sensitize,
question and awaken a greater critical
awareness, both individual and collective, which will allow to draw a route
that is not extinguished along the way.
Art then means the power to subscribe
a better present, a history that will leave
fewer scars and a destination as vast and

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diverse as those offered by the cultures
of yesterday which had much less, but
understood how to coexist being always
part of a whole.
What are your future plans?
Probably the most important project
which I hope to complete this coming
spring is the publication of my first book
based on the series of works titled “On
the Map” and which I have created in
the last six years. This project reflects my
personal view on the impact of the immigration on the identity of the United
States of America. “On the Map” consists on different media works including
drawings, paintings, art objects, sculptures, 3D paintings, digital art and animation art videos. The book, with the text
by the Art Historian, Dr. Jose Rodeiro is
already finished in its bi-lingual (English
and Spanish) version and as soon as it
is published I’m planning to focus on its
promotion which will hopefully be followed by the exhibition of the entire “On
the Map” series.

www.pablocaviedes.com

John Paul Evans
Budleigh Salterton, UK

In his memoirs, Stephen Fry remarked on an encounter he had with Alastair Cooke.
After shaking hands, the writer and broadcaster synonymous with letter from America, informed
Fry that he was shaking the hand of someone who had shook the hand of Bertrand Russell.
When Fry displayed amazement, the man of letters added that it didn’t stop there, and that
Bertrand Russell knew Robert Browning and Bertrand Russell’s aunt had danced with Napoleon.
This example of ‘degrees of separation’, a concept which influenced the early thought
on social networks, reminded me of a curious connection between my homeland of south Wales,
the promised land of America, the notion of home and the politics of otherness.
The sentimental ballad “home sweet home”, written by John Howard Payne in 1822, and adopted
after his death as a unifying propaganda during the American Civil War, offered solace in a time
where a nation was divided or split geographically.
The song became synonymous with the opera singer Adelina Patti who was described
by Giuseppe Verdi in 1877 as being perhaps the finest singer who had ever lived. Abraham
Lincoln famously implored the singer to console him with the ballad after the loss of his son
Willie to typhoid. The talisman of home offering comfort and protection in a time of mourning.
Oscar Wilde, a man famous, and sometimes infamous, for his use of words referenced Patti in his
fiction. On his tour of America the aesthete attended a performance by the singer as a closing
entertainment of the Cincinnatti Opera Festival. Wilde was taken backstage to meet Adelina and
the experience was to have a profound effect on the writer. He included references to Patti in his
only novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, a strange kismet that seemed to foretell his impending
destiny. After Wilde’s disgrace and downfall the country to offer Wilde refuge and ‘home’ was
France, the nation that offered Liberty in symbolic form to America. Paris would become his
home and his final resting place. In the nineteenth century, Britain was not a place to offer ‘home
sweet home’ to the homosexual.
In the latter part of her life, Patti resided in the Swansea valley in her retirement home at Craig
y Nos, where she built her own theatre. She died in the Welsh castle, but her final resting place
would be alongside her beloved Rossini in Pere Lachaise, a Parisian locale she would share with
Wilde after death.
These serendipitous events reflect the arbitrary possibilities of our social networks. The pervasive sentiment offered by this ballad has permeated generations and centuries and presents
us with an idea that should make us reflect on how we connect with others, how we understand
our place in the world, and how we generate discourse of belonging and otherness.

When, how and why started your art
practice?

In your opinion, what does photography mean in contemporary culture?

I first started to think about photography
seriously in the mid to late 1980s. It was
a time when I was coming to terms with
my sexuality in an era of AIDS and right
wing politics in Britain and America. The
alternative contemporary photographic world responded to the politics of the
time by analyzing the way photography is deployed socially and politically
to reinforce concepts of gender, race,
class, nationality and sexuality in terms
of normality and ‘otherness’. It was this
cultural background that made me realize that photography and the politics
of otherness were the subject and medium that I wanted to frame my art practice
within.

We now live in a post iphone, facebook,
instagram era where the expectation to
photograph oneself seems compulsory.
It’s a very different creative world to the
one that I evolved into. Self-portraiture
was once a conscious decision and often
employed to make a conceptual statement about the avoidance of objectification. This seemed useful in responding to
questions of gender, sexuality and being.
Although the world seems oversaturated with photographs in a digital era,
I would argue the same rules and codes
of normality and otherness apply. We only
have to listen to the debates on feminism,
abortion, gay marriage and immigration
in the American election, the Brexit vote,
and in the upcoming elections in Europe
to realize that there is a constant struggle for power, and photography is one
of the central tools deployed to reinforce
cultural codes and public opinion. In this
sense, photography still plays a critical
role in the way identities are formed
across the media.
In the ‘microphysics of power’, Michel
Foucault puts forward the idea of power operating in capillary fashion, not
only from the top down but in networks
spreading out, permeating society. The
possibilities in acknowledging power
operating in this way is that it allows
people to transform the prevailing
cultural codes through individual acts
within the field of power/knowledge.
In this sense any work of representation
has the possibility of changing, or conversely, reaffirming opinions.
The internet might be used as a useful
analogy of this idea of power networks.
We might argue that these networks can’t
overthrow governments directly, but they
can change the way we think about things
and they can alert us to who is doing the
talking and on whose behalf they speak.
I would have never believed as a young
man in the 1980s that gay marriage
would be law in Great Britain in the 21
century. For Peter’s part growing up in
a period where being homosexual was
illegal and only partially decriminalized in 1967 as a consequence of the
Wolfenden report, then we would have
to acknowledge that things have shifted considerably in terms of gay rights
in western culture. But we shouldn’t be

What is your creative process like?
In recent years my creative process has
been a fusion of photographing Peter
and myself in domestic environments
as well as in the landscape, in making
still-life pictures as well as crude montage and model making, and in working
in B & W as well as in colour. These
varied approaches to questioning the
couple/marriage/wedding portrait have
provided a framework which has enabled me to respond to various themes and
ideas in relation to the couple/marriage/
wedding portrait.
It is always much more straightforward
to work towards a specific exhibition
or a commission. For instance, after receiving the Hasselblad Masters Award
2016, I was then commissioned by Hasselblad to make a body of images ‘kings,
queens & fairy tales’ for the Hasselblad
Masters ‘Inspire’ publication which was
launched in Photokina, Cologne in September. Having a publication and deadline was very useful, as I needed to be
very focused in realizing my ideas. Similarly, with home sweet home, I knew that
the work needed to be completed for the
Ffotogallery Diffusion festival of photography in October 2015 so there were
deadlines for making, printing and framing the work.
In quieter periods, I try to keep a couple
of projects/ideas on the backburner, as
it’s always useful to be working on something when a particular project comes to
fruition.

complacent as there will always be people who given the chance would like
to shift power in another direction.
We only have to look at the consequence
of the Brexit vote and comments in the
French election about repealing Gay
Marriage law to realize that.
Name three artists you’d like to be
compared to.
It’s a very difficult question, as it might
be perceived by others to be arrogant or
delusional. But if I responded instead to
name 3 artists I would like to be in an
exhibition with, then I would say:
1. Rosy Martin for her work in phototherapy in addressing gender stereotypes,
in transgressing approved cultural codes in
‘outrageous agers’, in reenacting points in
family history and in using photography to
try to come to terms with memory and loss
over the decline and death of her mother.
2. Duane Michals for his use of comedy,
of tragedy, and his poetic ability to address who we are in the world.
3. Angus McBean for his use of models
and montage to create ‘playfully surreal’
photographs.
How would you describe the art scene
in your area?
I now live in Devon and the closest city to
where I live would be Exeter.
Having lectured in higher education for
more than 20 years, I am aware that cities that have art schools benefit greatly
form the local energy of undergraduate
and post graduate students. I lectured on
the fine art degree in Cardiff School of Art
and in Photography in the Arts in University of Wales Trinity St David Swansea.
Both Cardiff and Swansea have thriving
art scenes that exhibit established artists
as well as providing opportunities for
artists and photographers who are just
starting out.
In that sense, it is sad that a number of
the art and design courses relocated from
Exeter to Plymouth some years back, as
I know that any city benefits from the
creative input of undergraduate and post
graduate art and design students. Having
said that, Exeter is very lucky to have an
arts centre, Exeter Phoenix, which is in

the same mold as the arts council funded
arts centers like Chapter in Cardiff, and
MAC in Birmingham. This provides the
city with a contemporary gallery space
and a theatre and cinema programme.
There is also Spacex Gallery, which originally opened as an artist cooperative in
1974 and aims to provide a programme
of projects and events, which focus on
‘collaboration’ between artists and audiences. Next door to Phoenix is RAM,
The Royal Albert Museum which won the
Museum of the year award 2012 and provides a range of contemporary and historical exhibitions.

What advice can you give to those who
are just starting out in the arts?
It is important to apply regularly to opportunities and not to take it personally if
your submission is unsuccessful. The selectors or curators will always have their
own personal criteria and if you are not
chosen doesn’t it necessarily reflect badly
on your work. You need to believe that the
work you do is important and to continue
making work regardless of whether you
have an exhibition or a publication in the
pipeline. As a practicing artist, the ideas
need to develop in their own time outside

of other obligations or constraints.
When you graduate from arts school it is very
unlikely that an established gallery will give
you a solo exhibition. It is important to try
and form supportive networks and groups in
order to exhibit work as one show hopefully
leads to the next and then if you build enough
of an exhibiting profile you stand a good
chance of having a solo exhibition.
What are your future plans?
Home Sweet Home will be exhibited in Oriel
Theatre Clwyd from January-March 2017.
I continue to work with Peter on various projects.

www.johnpaulevans.co.uk

Lindsay
Hayre
Kingston upon Hull, UK

My artwork primarily explores space and
place and brings in to question topics
such as, how is space occupied? And what
does such occupied space reveal about
us? The completed works take the form of
books, photography, prints or paintings.
I produce community art works that work
with and reflect local residential communities. My work focuses on individuality and
indenture amongst the repetitive conformity
of inhabited council environments in Hull.
The completed projects aim to bring together
communities and assign them a voice.

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Art Reveal Magazine

When, how and why started your art
practice?
Most of my work is created on and about
council estates and the City I live in. I am
interested in the characters, repetition in
architecture, marks and objects left in
every day areas, common areas to stop
and pause, urban lighting, colour and
hidden areas of beauty and fascination.
I grew up on Bransholme, a large council estate in Hull. I had a fantastic childhood and spent every possible hour playing outdoors. It wasn’t until I was older
that I realised the stigma associated with
growing up on an estate, just having my
address on a cv could prevent me form
getting an interview for a job. As I began
to return to the estate as an adult I felt
I wanted to capture such areas the way
I knew them.
I have always created art from a young
age, as a child I would create observant

portraits in oil colours to store at home.
I would lock myself away for hours to create works which gave me a sense of gratitude, I loved the idea putting so much
time in to capturing ordinary folk who
most people would not pass a glance at.
During my teens I studied art and photography and choose to go down the
photography route as I was drawn to the
chemical processes. I loved capturing
light and dabbling with light processes
in the dark room. Light is just as much
relevant to me in my photographic digital work, in some way I find I am drawn
to hot spots of light in urban environments and love the challenge of trying to
capture it. My work has also always featured people and the everyday in someway. Whether it be places people pass
through, live or meet, I love conversations, possessions, lifestyles, repetition
and the ordinary.

It wasn’t until studying for my MA that
I found my calling. I combined my love
of youth and social work in to my art
practise. Previously I had battled with
the purpose of creating art and often
thought of it as something produced for
the “white cube” to be observed in an almost exploitative, disconnected manner.
Studying for my MA helped me to connect my experiences and memories in
to my works. I now know that I want to
create works that are observational and
feature real ways of life. When I began
creating more honest art in response to
people and place I felt a sense of forfillness for creating the works and a place
and purpose for displaying them. I like
to think that my art often gives people a
voice or encourages people to interact
with their environment more, reflect on
their lives more or allows people to take
time to appreciate and notice their environment around them.

Art Reveal Magazine

What is your creative process like?
I usually get drawn to a place or project
from either a passing glance on public
transport, snippets of passing conversations or historical references to a place
or memories from my upbringing. I usually have an idea or area that I want the
work with and I allow a lot of time in that
area of interest for the project to develop and adopt its own direction. I rarely
know what the end result is going to be
and just keep creating whist investigating a project. Slowly I find a topic will
emerge and take its own form. Often a
project can take over a year to complete
with many mini collections of works being produced a long the way. My works
always start in a photographic form and
often develop using screen printing processes and oils. Often they remain as
photographic prints.
In your opinion, what does art mean
in contemporary culture?
Art in contemporary culture captures the
now, be that thought processes, interests
and trends, ways of life, politics, race,
sex, family, humanity or environment.
It is much more about abstracts of passionate thoughts, pauses in daily routine
and discarded conversation, news and
trends. Art is a pleasing picture in Ikea,
a You Tube video of cats and works sold
at Sotherbys. Art in contemporary culture is all that is happening around us
now which is discarded tomorrow. Artists are anyone and everyone and art is
open to all principles from iPhones to
oil paintings. In this current political
climate art is un editable, uncontrolled
and easily accessible to all due to social
media platforms.
Name three artists you’d like to be
compared to.
I would like to be recognised as being similar to Stephen Willats for his
ability to respond to real life and the
everyday and make the work truly relevant to its subject and place of creation. Tracey Emin for my purity and

ability to reflect and include personal
responses, memories and feeling and
such raw passion in to her works. And
Edward Hopper for his ability to capture light and emotion in everyday
scenes, making people see beauty in
areas they do not know.
How would you describe the art scene
in your area?
Hull has a vast underground art scene
which has recently been put under the
microscope due to gaining the title of
City of Culture 2017 and some interesting work and artists are emerging. However overall it is not known for its arts,
the university and galleries don’t feature
contemporary practises and the town itself, due to location doesn’t attract a lot
of tourism.
Hull is often on the receiving end of
poor articles and press but to me, it is
the close net, down trodden, left behind
abstracts of Hull which are the most
influential and fascinating. Each area
has it’s interesting history, people and
lifestyles. The people of Hull are the art
with unique characters and truly honest
and brilliant outlooks and experience
of life. Hull has a lot to say to the arts
world… watch this space.

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What advice can you give to those who
are just starting out in the arts?
I would advise people to have an idea
of what they want from the arts before
they enter it. If people have a romanticised idealism of becoming the next
worshipped artist who’s work will sell
for millions, then they may be delusional.
However if they have something to say,
express or simply capture, be it personal,
political or environmental then the Arts
is the perfect the platform for theem.
What are your future plans?
I feel I am at the beginning of my career and
still finding my feet. I hope to home in on more
areas of interest to capture the city where
I live and potentially take my skills to other
towns to create similar responses. In have
worked in numerous youth worker roles in
the past and would like to start some sort of
art programme with young people to try to
engage more community art work and projects for young people in Hull. This would
bring together all my skills and interests.
I hope to continue to do guest lecturing
within universities and perhaps will consider completing a PHD in Fine Art as
I really miss having time to research
areas of interest and take time to reflect on
my work.

www.lindsay-hayre.com

Jukka-Pekka Jalovaara
Jyväskylä, Finland

For me there is no such a thing called still-image. Whenever you see an image again, it’s different – and that’s nice.
From this point of view it was very easy to jump to the train of cinematography. During a very hollow slice of time
you think nothing moves, but it’s only imagination.
If something is moved inside you – it’s art. You only don’t know what was it, that moved you, exactly. That’s magic.

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Art Reveal Magazine

When, how and why started your art
practice?
As far as I can remember, visual world
has been the thing in my life.
Drawing was naturally the first, but soon
I also started sculpting small animal figures from found wooden pieces - I was
about ten years old at the time. Very
clearly I remember the tremendous joy
and proudness what I had just made. Also
exact feel of the touch and smell of different materials and moments are burned in
in my memory.
With no special effort I can visually wander places in my childhood remembering
totally lively details with overwhelming
tension and concertration. Probably
I have 3D photographic memory.
My father was skilled and enthusiasted
amateur photographer and also cinematographer having Super 8 mm camera. He made selfmade films, edited them
and then arranged shows in our living
room - that was really something ! Deep
inside me there is that magical and overwhelming sound of analogical projector.
I starred in one of these shortfilms. The
plot was that I hijacked our car ( being
5 years old that time ) started driving
heading to our summer cottage. Then
suddenly I lost the control of the car and
wrecked it.Next scene was shot at the
cemetery showing a red rose on a grave

- I had died.
During these shows he projected also
various Disney films and Tarzan adventures.In order to get the rawfilm developed it had to be send from Finland
to Western Germany - this operation by
mail took six weeks.
----Few years I spent hopeless time studying
achitecture and scenography having no
satisfactory emotional response. Inside
me, I found out having a tremendous pressure of pictures wanting to be expressed
. Then I succeeded to get in to the School
of Fine Arts having sculpture as main
study. That was the goal of my heart. But
elementary and nervewrecking problem
in doing sculptures was, that intended piece always kept evolving - never
stopped. New morning - new visions. All
my efforts ended up a pile of trash and
dust on the floor. I was devastated.
Fluently the idea of making moving images replaced that after some years.
What is your creative process like?
It’s a hilarious mess. As a first rule I keep
in mind that you can’t dissolve good art
with analytical mind. If you can , it’s
dead. In the background there needs to
be some analyse, but mostly the process

has to be an adventure and an intuitive
innovation of life - again and again.
Second rule is that all good art is positively handling the concept of death.
Then you have a good chance to succes
in expressing and exploring life. Every
piece needs to be your last. Here you
need extraordinary bravery and stamina. Only this way your work can evolve.
If you are not ready for this, just forget it.
Do something else.
When I am editing a piece, in the midst of
the flow of the images , the flow of words
is always present. I can’t stop it - it just
comes. I wish I could stop it for a while.
When there is the word in the midst of
a picture, it needs to be heightened, elevated to the same level or higher than
the picture. This means poetry. And with
the picture and poetics , they need to have
different rhytms according to each other.
Some kind of intervalls between them.
Only this way they can co-operate and
create something new , something which
is luminescent and possible hologram of
emotion.Here I must add, that my favourite poems are Haiku’s - the master level
of words forming the image.
It is like having a satisfactory dialog between you and your material. All my goal
is having an expression with poetic substance. I don’t like facts - I like emotions.

Art Reveal Magazine

But there you have a bad chance of being jammed, repeating the same again
and again - it is a risky business. Your
only saviour is, if in all it’s depth the
emotion is vivid and self experienced
and through this emotion the spectator can feel the precense of the maker.
Actually, you have to be ready to die.
You have to be ready to loose it all. .
Everything in art has been made , but
you can give yourself as a gift to the
others. That would be the most beautiful thing to do.
I have the pleasure of having as co-creator Samuli Kristian Saastamoinen,
a musician having his diploma in cinematography. This combination is vital.
For my pleasure, he has his intentions
as a musician in free -based music.
Vibrations like progressive, free-jazz
and intuitive improvisation are more
than you could dream of for co-operation. For about four years has it been
like this now. Special notification is that
the music needs to be created as much
as possible from the personal ideas
and intuition of the musician - it needs
to be tied to his ideas of the best and
most vivid outcome you can get. Now
the obstacle of constant and disturbing
evolvement of sculptures found it’s solution in the realms of film.
As Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr said
after having finished his masterpiece
“The Turin Horse“ (2011). “It’s all there
- nothing is to be said anymore “. And he
stopped doing films. After having watched
this astounding , visionary film it’s easy
to agree with him. There is a touch of an
angel in this film. As Tarkovsky said :
“Doing film is sculpting time“. The
Turin Horse is all about time and all
about a poem. At the end the maker might
disappear and that would be just fine.

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In your opinion, what does art mean
in contemporary culture?

How would you describe the art scene
in your area?

Only love can be the meaning of art.
Todays mode of contemporary art is far
out phenomenon for ordinary people.
Probably less than 20 % of population
is interested at all about art. Music and
litterature are which has the greatest
response in peoples everyday life. And
some movies which succeed to handle
society’s collective traumas.
Visual art usually comes to peoples mind
only then, when they want to oppose
some public project or one spesific work
which does’nt suite their attitude or
everyday comfort of life. Usually people
want to live their life uninterrupted.

Here are living and working only people
who enjoy so much countryside that they
remain here. The scene is 95 % in the
capital , Helsinki. Also the same amount
of artists live there - many hundred kilometers from Jyväskylä. Simple fact is that
there are most possibilities of getting side
jobs for artists to make a living. About
five percents of all artists in Finland
gets the living in selling their art solely.
Contempory, internationally renowned
art is seen here through internet.

Of course there are some succesful sitespesific public works which are cherished.
Though, there has been lately an uprise
of doing art in a social context - that is
nice and leaves some hope in binding art
into a society and healing single persons
troubled lives. I hope more and more
people get the chance to get in contact
their emotional persona.
Name three artists you’d like to be
compared to.
Well, I name two. First is above mentioned Béla Tarr. Hungarian filmmaker,
which last film covers , as he said , all.
The whole world is depicted such a way
that it lacks nothing. His empathy to the
characters and their life of Hungarian
rural outskirts remains in my mind.
Second one is West - African photographer Roger Ballen. Here, also Ballen’s
empathy for the southafrican outcast is
prominent. His imaginative black-and
white photographs reveals something
very basic of humanity.

What advice can you give to those who
are just starting out in the arts?
Make sure that you are fool enough to be
devoted in doing arts by all your heart.
When the unbearable moments come ,
and they will come to every artist you
are not derailed to misery and selfpity.
Believing oneself and willingly giving
credits to oneself is the base - no one else
does that for you.
Emotionally this job is probably one of
the hardest ever. If you are ready for this,
you can also gain some of the finest moments in life you never believed.
Practically, one needs to have the ability
to recognise what’s the strength in own
art and in other’s work. That is the way
to get developed in doing and thinking.
If something is moved inside you – it’s
art. You only don’t know what was it, that
moved you, exactly. That’s magic.
What are your future plans?
I do have one plan - I would like to be a
tree, one hundred years old.

https://vimeo.com/user7343077

Rebecca
Key
Liverpool, UK

Rebecca Key has exhibited internationally, and worked as an
art director in the film and television industry. Using objects
to examine the relationship between artist and gallery space,
character and narrative, Key explores myths that surround the
creative process within the institution, and other specific sites.

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Art Reveal Magazine

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When, how and why started your art practice?
I went to art school in Edinburgh, completed an MFA then started
working in film and television. I learnt all the skills in the industry
that I previously lacked to realise the installation projects I wanted
to make, so with these new abilities I was able to undertake more
successful projects. Funding from Arts Council England for my
first large installation was a big deal and let me achieve the best
work I possibly could have, with assistance from a fantastic team.
What is your creative process like?
It parallels with film and tv art department set design, construction and dressing. I use props to portray narrative, often absent
characters and alluding to what has already happened or what
might happen next.
In your opinion, what does art mean in contemporary culture?
Everyone takes in art everyday, we’re surrounded by photography,
music, writing, adverts, on and offline: pop culture is pulsating
and it’s an exciting time to be living, I think. Critical thinking has
also increased with the amount of generated imagery and platforms for debate: from people inanely slagging celebrities off, to
campaigning and rallying support for people who really need it.
People are surprisingly generous with time, care and money when
they see real reason.
Name three artists you’d like to be compared to.
Jerry Dammers, Dario Argento, Doris Stokes
How would you describe the art scene in your area?
I think the U.K. is accessible but often could be moreso both physically and theoretically. Anthony Gormley’s work on a beach near
here has been embraced so intensely by everyone that has helped
make institutions less scary and subsequently art museum visitors
less pious or furtive. I tend to keep my head down, talking with
people I genuinely like and want to speak to, not those who I’ve
been told ‘I really should’ or ‘really have to’.
What advice can you give to those who are just starting out in
the arts?
I was told by a close artist friend that for every twenty application
opportunities you apply for, you’ll get approximately one. Then
after that one, another, and another. It’s true, and that kept me
going. Just keep sending those fuckers in. It’s not because your
work ‘isn’t any good’ its just that you don’t fit the curatorial set up
or the funding remit at that time. Most importantly, get a job that
pays you, to support your practice, hopefully one that will retain
your interest for a long time. Start at the bottom and work hard.
Also: never, ever, measure success.
What are your future plans?
Staying alive, I had one stroke that’s changed my life, so I’m not
planning on having a second anytime soon.

www.rebeccakey.com

Kevin Killen
Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, UK

In my work, light plays a role in translating ephemeral movement into tangible sculptural forms. The series of light compositions are created through collaborations between performance artists, dancers and myself. My role is that of observer and
photo-documenter, studying patterns that are created when the artist performs. I then create site-specific neon light sculptures
and installations that are the aftermath of our combined experience. In this way, the static sculptures embody the transients
of the performance.
The performances take place in a darkened space, where the dancers or performance artists hold lights. As their performance
begins, I photograph their choreography using the camera as a drawing tool; long-exposures that track the staccato beams
of light and their gestures over time. The result is photographic drawings that trace the lines of their actions; as the camera
moves with the dancers, accidents occur, adding spontaneity and playfulness to the drawings. In a sense, the line drawings are
a re-enactment of the performances, of which the end results extend beyond the original performance both as an archive and
a vehicle for creating the neon work.
The weightless, suspended floating and free-standing neon forms are unique compositions that exist independently or with the
dancers. In some cases the performers dance alongside the neon, and in other cases they are displayed alone. The viewer can
move around the sculptural works, imagining the path of the performers’ bodies and our collaboration within the space.
Within the installations, an important part of the process for me is to record the timing of the dancers’ breath. I correlate the
different inhalation rhythms to match the sequence of the neon lights as they turn on and off, embodying the real-time kinetics
of the original performance, activating the space with dark pauses in one instance and bright glows the next. In some ways,
I’m questioning how far the human emotion and gesture of performance can be captured in my final neon sculptures.
Creating the neon is a solitary exploration, a fragmented memory of the now ended performance. Some essence of the original
performance remains in the final sculptural works, but there is also something that is created new in the final neons.
The neon are luminous, fleeting moments, echoing the sensitivity, gestures and emotions initially conveyed during the performances. They are metaphors of past and present; maps of the artists’ performance, yet symbolic of our collaborations.

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Art Reveal Magazine

When, how and why started your art practice?
I’ve been working as a professional artist for over fourteen years now. As a child
I was interested in drawing and as I grew older this grew into an interest in drawing
with light and the ways that I could do that. I suppose that art was a way for me to
explore and indulge my curiosity.
What is your creative process like?
I’m interested in movement and the stories that they tell: how that moment in time can
be captured. I document movements using long-exposure photography, creating light
drawings. I use the drawings as source material and “translate” the drawings into
neon sculptures. To date I’ve mainly exhibited the final process, the neon sculptures,
but I’m investigating the light drawings as works in their own right rather than just
part of a process.
In your opinion, what does art mean in contemporary culture?
The meaning of art is so subjective that there’s no definitive answer to that question.
Some artists mimic contemporary culture in their work, some use it to challenge. Art
can be socially engaged or referencing the mundane. Essentially art can be or can
mean anything and that’s the wonderful thing about it.
Name three artists you’d like to be compared to.
I’m not sure that it’s helpful to be compared to people, but three artists that I admire
are: Keith Sonnier; David Smith; and Paolo Scirpa.
How would you describe the art scene in your area?
Northern Ireland has a history of artist-led ventures and the arts scene is still heavily
reliant on artists and curators creating their own opportunities. The arts here has
faced heavy cuts year-on-year and comparative to the rest of the UK there is very
little commercial market.
What advice can you give to those who are just starting out in the arts?
I’d say that you need to be aware of the sector that you want to work in. Very few
artists can support themselves solely through their practice, so you need to be happy
to either work part-time in an un-related area or to split your creative practice. Being
clear about what you want to achieve and how you’re going to achieve it is a great
thing - a five year plan sounds arduous, but knowing where you want to be will help
you get there.
What are your future plans?
I’ve been concentrating on researching for a new body of work, so soon I’ll get to
focus on the actual fabrication. It’s hard sometimes to decide which opportunities are
worthwhile, but time is finite so I’m trying to be more selective.

Art Reveal Magazine

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www.kevinkillen.com

Geoff Latz
Bradford, UK

I took an avid interest in ‘upscaling’ when my first piece ‘Anne Galleon’, a ship
which was inspired by those found in Spain’s 16th Century fleet, was exhibited
at Cartwright Hall, Bradford in 2009. From there my work has evolved and
I have exhibited throughout the UK.
I like to create things that are inspiring and that catch people’s interest and
imagination and some of my pieces are kinetic or use LED lights. One of my
passions is history and I take much inspiration from this and the great minds
of the past when creating my work. I like to make things that have an educational value, to inspire people of all ages as I feel we all have the ability to create
within us. I like to create art, not just for art’s sake, but to create something that
tells a story.

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Art Reveal Magazine

When, how and why you started your
art practice?
I am a Bradford based artist with a background in engineering. I specialise in the
area called ‘Upscaling’ and create artwork mainly from unwanted materials,
that have become surplus to requirements
and would otherwise go to waste. This
benefits the enviroment which is important to me.
I come from a very large family, I’m the
12 youngest of 13 children so money was
scarce and we made our own entertainment.
I have been creative since I was a young
boy and I’ve always enjoyed making
things I suppose as a way of escape.
Having an inquisitive mind, I would
use my imagination to create all kinds
of things from various bits and pieces
around me, so my eventual progression
into Upscaling came as second nature.
It was not until about eight years ago
that I began taking things more seriously. This came about after a friend of mine
told me a story about how you need to
“set your sail to get to the other side of
your destination in life”. That inspired
me to create a Galleon based on those
found in Spain’s 16th Centuary fleet.
This was made from reclaimed materials:
copper, tin, aluminium, steel plate. It also
contains mechanised cannons made from
copper pipe and LED lights. It took 1000
hours to create and is approx 1 meter
square in size. This piece was exhibited
at Cartwright Hall, Bradford in 2009.
From there my work has evolved and
I have exhibited throughout the UK.
Until recently I used my garage at home
as a small workshop- after a full day’s
work I would come home and lose myself
in my creations until late into the evening.
What is your creative process like?
As an Upscaling artist I work predominantly in various metals, i.e. copper,
steel, wire etc, but use whatever reclaimed materials are necessary to create my artwork. My work mainly consists
of sculptures but I have also produced
various pieces of wall art, often with pins
and wire. I like to create things that are
inspiring and that catch people’s interest
and imagination and some of my pieces
are kinetic or use LED lights. One of my

passions is history and I take much inspiration from this and the great minds
of the past, e.g. Leonardo da Vinci, when
creating my work. Much of my work is
based on historic events and civilisations,
but I also like to use satire, as in my piece
“Fat Cats Bank”, or hidden meanings in
my work as in “Mayan Totem Pole” and
“The Oculist”.
I like to make things that have an educational value, to inspire people of all ages
as I feel we all have the ability to create
within us. I create art, not just for art’s
sake, but to create something that tells a
story and causes the viewer to stand and
stare.
I sometimes collaborate with another artist, and we share ideas and techniques, and
I find this sharpens the creative process.
When I create a piece of work I think
about the story that I want to tell, and
spend time researching my subject. I then
consider the materials and aesthetics
needed as these play an important role in
getting my message across to the viewer.
However, occasionally this works in reverse, as sometimes I acquire the materials first which then inspire me to create
a piece around them. The colour, texture
and material type also help to add depth
and mistique. It’s amazing how you can
take an unwanted everyday item and turn
it into a work of art. It gives me great
pleasure to watch people trying to work
out what the various components are,
as they are used in a way for which they
were never intended.
In your opinion, what does art mean in
contemporary culture?
I think an artist’s job is to be a narrator of
all that’s around them. To help bring enlightenment, opening up other thoughts
to those around them. To ask profound
questions that others wouldn’t ask, - the
“why’s” of life. To plant a seed of thought
to help people get to their own conclusions. To bring people together, it should
be a universal a language. It needs to be
profound yet have a simplistic message
and a feeling of synergy. Simplicity and
complexity in equal measure.
I also believe art is an essential aid maintaining in mental, physical and emotional
wellbeing. It can help people to express
their emotions in a way that words can-

not and is undoubtlessly theraputic. Often
life throws us many blows and we go on
as best we can often keeping things bottled up, but there is something powerful
about being to draw out real raw emotion
from someone who is in silent torment.
One such example is the “1in4” Exhibition I took part in recently at the Hockney
Gallery in Saltaire, which was to promote Mental Health awareness. Some of
the artists exhibiting had expressed their
own feelings in various mediums and you
could see and feel their pain, it was was
extremely powerful.
Name three artists you’d like to be
compared to.
I like to aim high and dare to aspire to be
compared to 3 of the Greats:
Michelangelo. He could see the beauty
in the materials and could bring so much
life to inanimate material, that you could
almost interact with it, e.g. his statue of
David.
Leonardo da Vinci. A total genius and
multi-talented in many areas : painting,
science, sculpture, inventor. He was far
ahead of this time.
Antony Gormley. His sculptures are complex and yet have a simplicity that can
speak to everyone.
How would you describe the art scene
in your area?
While there are some brilliant artists doing amazing work, I think sometimes it
can be too conservative. I think the subject matter could tackle important issues
more head on, rather than skirting the
issue.
I still think there is a North/South divide
with regards to support for the Arts, both
financially and organisationally. This is
starting to improve however, slowly but
surely. London is still considered to be the
centre of Art but the North has a lot to offer.
David Hockney helped to put us on the map,
but there’s still a lot of snobbery in Art.
There seems to be no real outlet for Upscaling Art, for example, a few years ago
I put some work into an exhibition, but the
Curator couldn’t catagorize my work, so
I was placed alone in a separate room

Art Reveal Magazine

whilst other exhibits were displayed together.
I took this as a compliment in a way, as my
work differs greatly from the mainstream.
What advice can you give to those who
are just starting out in the arts?
You have to be totally dedicated and focused and be prepared to take a lot of rejection as well as praise. You must keep
going and push the boundaries, constantly
developing new ideas and skills.
Finance is important unfortunately, to cover your everyday outgoings as well as for
for material costs etc, as even artists have
got to eat! There’s plenty of funding out
there, but you often need to specific in what
you’re asking for so take time to write your
plans and requests. Make sure you answer
any questions asked of you, don’t be vague
and skirt the issue as this can cause any
would-be investor to put you straight onto
the “NO” pile.
Networking is vital, as you can make
some great contacts, but be selective when
choosing the right people to help you to
further your career or vision. Be specific
in your goals and aims, what you need for
the immediate and for the future. Set targets and deadlines if you must, and plan to
ensure things gets done.
Keep your eye on sites showing forthcoming events or opportunities that are relevant to your skills or artform.
You must never give up on your dreamsgive it your all and don’t be half-hearted.
Say what you want to say, be bold!
What are your future plans?
I intend to continue developing new techniques, ideas and skills, to keep pushing my
boundaries to stretch myself. I’d like to do
a series of work based on the origins of life,
and I’m revisiting a concept to develop art
for the modern era.
I intend to run workshops, working with
specific groups to help them build their
confidence and self-esteem. To teach them
new skills whether they use these purely as
a hobby for relaxation or improved wellbeing, or for furthering their own career. In
my opinion, if you help others you are also
helping yourself.

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www.latzart.com

James Mccoll
South West England,UK

I am a visual artist, filmmaker and writer whose work mixes performance, installation and
film. As a visual artist, my work focuses on turning passive experiences into active ones.
I focus on minor life experiences that are largely dismissed or forgotten about yet say a lot
about our collective lives. I use film as a way to engage with larger social issues through
simplistic and sometimes abstract actions that aim to transform the audience from passive
viewers to actively engaged ones.
In Celebrating Aging I want to tell you about his Nan. I want to show you the life of this
strong, self-reliant, eighty-six year old woman. I want to celebrate age. Having discovered
my family archive of super-8 home movies, I have retraced the different parts of my grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life; stitching together family holidays, gatherings and present day interviews.
The piece explores her coming to grips with deteriorating health, and how she reflects upon
life through these gathered memories. This is a celebratory film, it is not mourning the end
of her life, but sharing her thoughts with the privilege of hindsight. The work is an attempt to talk about our cultural fear of ageing. There is joy in old age and nanny Small
is living proof.
The project is a twenty minute film and installation that is broken into two halves. When
it is being exhibited I collect locally sourced material to re-create my Nanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s living room
(or at least a similar set up) and the two films plays simultaneously. Next to the couch is a small
tin of biscuits and photo album, something that is both important to my Nan and the films.
The two films a mix of super 8 footage that was filmed over a series of family holidays and
gatherings many years ago and interviews with my Nan from the present day. The two films
show different parts of my grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey from London to Devon.

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When, how and why started your art practice?
Originally I got a place studying Illustration with Southampton
Solent University but I changed to film at the last minute. I’ve
always been interested in film but not necessarily its conventional form. Looking back, my practice is the natural conclusion
to what I was doing during the last year of my degree, I wanted
to pursue film in some form or another but I became less and
less interested in the film industry and the production process.
I wanted to make films that were less conventional both in form
and content which didn’t really fit with what was expected from
my course. I became more interested in what I could achieve as
an individual video artist than as a film maker who was a part
of a group. It’s kind of selfish really and I suspect it’s because
I’m somewhat of a control freak. In the larger sense I am an
artist because being creative is the only type of work I enjoy.
What is your creative process like?
It depends on the project. Although I often work with video I’ve
started moving more and more towards mixing video, instal-

lation and performance. With Celebrating Aging it started because my Nan’s poor health was something that my family had
been dealing with and talking about a lot. I tend to hoard items
and things of interest, in this case I had been given a load of
old Super 8 footage that my family had recorded in the 70’s
and 80’s. Sometimes two unrelated things come together and
an project falls in to place unexpectedly, I think it’s really about
keeping a constant eye out for things and an open mind to possible projects, films or otherwise.
In your opinion, what does painting mean in contemporary
culture?
When I think of painting the first thing that comes to mind is
framed gallery work which, honestly, seems slightly outdated
in terms of reflecting anything that’s happening in my life or
modern life but I’d love to be proven wrong and pointed in the
direction of an artist doing something really interesting in the
medium! I find live art and other visual art more exciting right
now, stuff that can engage with an audience. I find painting can
be very passive; preferably I want an active audience.

Art Reveal Magazine

Name three artists you’d like to be compared to.
That’s tough but I’d say Billy Childish as he’s just so prolific
in so many different creative outlets. I was given a DVD called
‘The real history of the Chatham Super 8 Cinema’ which is a
collection of short Super 8 films he and a group of friends made
as a side project. Funnily enough I ended up copying their DIY
approach to transferring Super 8 footage to a digital format
when I made Celebrating Aging, which is to just film the footage projected – it seems obvious I know but it wasn’t until he
talked about it that it clicked. It saved me a lot of money and
I wouldn’t have been able to make the film otherwise. Another
is Josie Long. I think there’s a common link in this list which
is that I like people who refuse to be labelled as one thing. I’m
a huge fan of everything she does! She did some short films in
the last couple of years (Let’s Go Swimming, Romance and Adventure) which have really stuck with me. Lastly Jon Sanders,
he mentored me in my final year at Solent and his minimalist
approach to film making is the one that has stuck with me. He
helped start a film movement called the Belgrade Manifesto
which is definitely worth a read.
How would you describe the art scene in your area?
It depends on what kind of art you like. Generally I would say
it’s strong, especially for live art in Exeter. I recently covered
the Plymouth Art Weekender for VASW and that really opened
my eyes to what was happening across the county. There’s a lot
going on, you just have to know where to look.
What advice can you give to those who are just starting out
in the arts?
Supposedly when giving advice you are giving advice to your
younger self, with that in mind I would say that you need to
work on projects constantly and not just apply to briefs or commission work. All the work I have had success with has been
work that was developed without a specific end in mind.
What are your future plans?
I want to continue exhibiting art in spaces that don’t usually host it. I’ve tried to take art out of conventional exhibition
spaces and put it in spaces where none gallery goers will see
it. I think I will be mixing performance, video and installation
more as it produces the more exciting results at the moment.
With my theatre group First Line Theatre, I’ve created a show
called Basic Space that deliberately takes people out of the
theatre and invites people who are not a part of the art world to
experience a performance; we walk through city centres, parks
and other regular public areas not designed for theatre. We
have these two big and clunky astronauts that walk through
these town centres that really make people look up and pay
attention. We will be performing Basic Space throughout 2017,
in the world of film I’ve been working on some projects that
have started to be shown at film festivals which is can be a
long process but rewarding. Celebrating Aging has been accepted into several film festivals including VAULT Film Festival which will screen it in February.

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twitter.com/jamesmccoll999

Campbell
Mcconnell
London, UK

The aim for the work is not to create a lie within the art, or a false vision, but to use many different truths to create a new,
combined truth. The truths within the work can be experienced and explored in many different ways depending on the audienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
knowledge of the content in the work.
By bringing two or more separate sets of information or objects together I am able to create a new situation that would not have
existed without the assemblage of those materials. My understanding of these materials dictates whether or not the different
substances work together. Sometimes compositions of information are supported by content I receive from various internet
sources.
Factual and fictitious narratives are employed to make the audience consider how much they should trust and rely on what they
are told. The work can be considered a deception, a very subtle interconnection of past and present information.
Imagery is important when creating false narratives, but sound has also played a part in my attempts to manipulate memories
and experiences. Engaging with an audience in an emotive way is important because in order for the audience to trust the work
they might have to feel emotionally connected to it.

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Art Reveal Magazine

When, how and why started your
art practice?
I have always been around art,
growing up with artistic parents.
I was taken to see lots of art that as
a child I did not quite understand,
but from these experiences, it taught
me to question the justification and
reasoning of artworks. Only now being older can I look back on these
experiences in galleries and realize
the extensive possibilities of creation
that can occur from my own actions
with in my own artwork.
What is your creative process like?
It’s hard to pin point a particular
step by step process. But I would
usually start out with some kind
of subject matter, object or image.
From there I would try and tackle
what it is that really interests me
about the history of said subject.
Sometimes the object is a found one
that would appear in the everyday.
Other times it’s a very simple subject
that I can relate to on either a small
or big scale. Its probably something
that has been a part of my life for a
long time. I then have a realisation
period where I tackle said subject
through thinking and devising. Once
I have figured out this I then begin
and attempt to produce something
meaningful and relatable from this
realization of the subject or image.
In your opinion, what does art
mean in contemporary culture?
Art can be a response directly towards contemporary culture, art
can be used as a tool to influence
and shed advice or opinion on to

a situation. Art can communicate
and connect people from different
times. It can give value and importance to fundamental understanding, through stories images and
sound. As a child, to view art in a
gallery I feel is just as important as
being told about the world through
school. Art gives you a perspective
on the world that is not completely
forced upon you as it would be in
school by a teacher.
Name three artists you’d like to be
compared to.
I wouldn’t necessarily like to be directly compared to another artist, but
artists that may have influenced me
other than my peers are Lucy McCormick, Sophie Calle and John Baldessari. These artists may or may not
have inspired my work however they
are artists that I admire and follow.
How would you describe the art
scene in your area?
Living in London, there is a wide
range of different art worlds. Recently I have been delving into and
performing at cabaret events and live
art spaces, this is a very friendly and
welcoming art environment that is
completely different from your white
cube type private views and gallery
openings. But there is truly a lot going on all the time. This makes it difficult to see everything.
What advice can you give to those
who are just starting out in the
arts?
I would say go to lots of art galleries.
But most of all stay aware of what’s

going on around you, day to day. You
never know when you might be inspired. I feel it’s always at the most
unexpected moment. You might be
on the toilet or on your way to work.
keep your eyes open to opportunities.
If you can create opportunities for
yourself by collaborating with other
artists, then this can help build Relationships and maintain a positive
basis for art networking.
What are your future plans?
Plans to continue to develop my
practice and keep an open mind to all
mediums and ideas, with regards to
creating. Most recently Performance
art is something that I have been
perusing. A previous work, called
‘Ikea extravaganza’ was performed
at Bones and Pearl Studios. This
work is going to be slightly re invented into Ikea art school. The participants will be invited to enroll into the
art school before they engage with
any of the works and will receive
a timetable.
The work should critique and question the current orthodoxies and suggest ideas for the future of arts education. In a political climate in which
arts education is being systematically
attacked by the current government
(from primary, secondary gallery education, FE and HE) this should be
a chance to highlight the value and
potential for arts teaching.
The event is intended to question
what an art school is or could be.
The event will take place at the new
Switch building at Tate Modern for
the week beginning the 9th of January 2017.

www.campbellmcconnell.wixsite.com/-art

Abi Miller
Farnham, UK

My practise spans a range of mediums, including sculpture, photography
and moving image. The concept behind the work I make often incorporates
themes of the body and its relation to architectural space, most recently
in the form of sensory experiences and interactions with objects. My current
interests have developed towards more specific ideas about space and
the boundaries we set ourselves in order to connect with and understand
it. I like to make the viewer question what they are seeing, and provoke
a speculative response. My work has recently involved a lot of repetition
either in making or in imagery, and it is something I like to use in order
to accentuate and radicalise the presentation of the work, so that viewer
becomes more immersed.

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Art Reveal Magazine

When, how and why started your art
practice?
I started practising art because i wasn’t
very good at it. Drawing was something
i always wished i could do, so I started practising constantly. I became obsessed with drawing and painting and
studied Fine Art at A-Level, Foundation
and now currently BA level. My practise
has developed from drawing and painting and is now sculpture and moving
image orientated as my knowledge of
the subject has developed into more specific interests. I have a fascination with
movement and gestures, however engaged or disengaged, and finding ways
of presenting these movements using
different mediums.
What is your creative process like?
My process isn’t really very regimented,
i am quite disorganised in terms of my

thought process, and ideas usually just
come to me very randomly. Most often
i think of ideas when i’m doing menial tasks that aren’t artistically related,
i think that’s when my brain is the most
relaxed, when i’m not trying to force ideas out.
Although sometimes it’s when i’m reading or writing about other artists that
i suddenly get an idea about how to solve
a problem within my own work. My practise is very much influenced by the things
i find when reading. I think making bad
work is also a good thing, as frustrating
as it is at the time, it is often the mistakes
i make that then help me the most when
i am trying to resolve a new piece of work.
I learn a lot from my failures, as it forces
me to take a new approach. Art is a very
complicated subject as there are an abundance of ways to do things, and problems
will always arise, but developing abilities to solve those problems is one of the

more rewarding aspects of making art.
I believe i have quite an academic and
logical way of thinking, which isn’t too
helpful when i’m in a creative industry,
but it is sometimes beneficial when i need
to collect my thoughts together.
In your opinion, what does painting
mean in contemporary culture?
Because i study Fine Art, it often allows
me to be very open minded when considering medium, as i don’t like to confine myself to just one. Painting, to me,
doesn’t just mean picking up a paintbrush and recording a photorealistic
landscape or portrait, it communicates
to me a way of working that is focussed
on gestures and actions and attention
to details that aren’t always figuratively represented or limited to two-dimensions. I think in contemporary culture
this is very much true, with artists such
as Anish Kapoor and his work ‘Shoot-

Art Reveal Magazine

ing into the Corner’. This work can be
considered painting on a broad sense, as
a material is interacting with a surface.
Red wax being fired at a wall is just a
more powerful form of gesture that can
be associated with painting.
Name three artists you’d like to be
compared to.
Lynda Benglis is an artist i love, her
poured polyurethane pieces have had
a massive influence on me since i’ve
been studying my degree and her process is so fascinating and well executed. My work has been very processed
based in the past and it is something i
would like to return to. Emma Critchley is also someone who inspires me.
She recently gave a talk at my university and her film work in particular is
so mesmerising, it is about the breath
and its limits in the underwater space.
It makes me consider the constraints

we as humans expose ourselves to and
how these limits are often presented
and exploited in contemporary art.
Pippilotti Rist’s installations are also
a huge inspiration, as i am working
with projection currently. Her ability to completely immerse the viewer
and create a sensory environment that
transports the viewer from the gallery into her own constructed world is
something that really interests me.
How would you describe the art scene
in your area?
I am currently in my final year at UCA
Farnham and am surrounded by art
students most of the time, so the art
scene is quite lively. Everyone is at the
beginning of their creative careers so
there is a lot of positivity and ambitious
projects. Farnham is a quiet town, but
it is close to London so access to the
art scenes there are very available.

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What advice can you give to those who
are just starting out in the arts?
I think being open minded and open to
criticism is very important, as well as
experimenting a lot with different ways of
making. There is no one right way to do
things, so try every way. Also, embrace
mistakes, because they will be the things
you learn the most from.
What are your future plans?
I am very interested in curation, and
i love curating my own exhibitions and
want to gain some experience in curating other artists. I currently work
at my university as a gallery assistant
and have made contacts with this job,
it is something i want to continue when
i graduate.

www.abigailmillersite.wordpress.com

Sid & Jim

Jim Bicknell-Knight
& Sidney Smith
London, UK
Sid and Jim are a London based collaboration
who work in a variety of mediums including but
not exclusive to performance, installation, and
moving image.

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Art Reveal Magazine

When, how and why did you start your art
practice?
They say it’s easier to figure out what you don’t
want to do before you figure out what you do
want to do and that perfectly sums up the ‘why’
part; this is the thing that did work when nothing else did. ‘When’ would only be 2 years
ago when we met at university and realized
that we were spending so much time assisting
with each other’s projects, so much so that
we might as well just put the work under one
name; a mutually beneficial decision and also
the answer to the ‘how’ aspect of the question.
How has your style changed over the years?
We’ve never really had a style in the conventional sense of the word. Usually when style is
discussed it’s normally with reference to aesthetics and there’s nothing that really visually
ties our work together. However, our ideas that
lie beneath the works have taken their own
course. Initially we were thinking about notions of connectivity and the distancing effects
of technology but at present we’re doing a lot
of research into fictitious characters or events
and how art and artists are represented within
popular culture.
What is the most challenging part about
working together?
Geography and time seem to be the main contenders; carving out an occasion when we’re
both in the same place is a difficult thing to
manage since outside of our practice we do in
fact operate autonomously!
Name three artists you admire.
William T Cost, Millicent Place, Ryan Gander
How would you describe the art scene in
your area?
We live in Wood Green in north London, there’s
not a huge amount within walking distance
from us but because of the Piccadilly line we
have quick access to most of the big galleries

79

in central London. On a more local scale there
are some really interesting project spaces and
galleries near by. 12ø Collective are based in
Stoke Newington, they’re a really ambitious
project space that have had some excellent
shows/projects over the last few years. There
is also the Bomb Factory in Archway and
Furtherfield gallery in Finsbury Park, both of
which are definitely worth checking out!
What advice can you give to those who are
just starting out in the arts?
We guess just be friendly; try and chat to as
many people as you can and keep an open
mind. In our opinion, the best way to get
through any issues you have with your work
is through conversation, regardless of whether
it’s a conceptual, physical, or even just logistical issue, chances are that someone can help
you. Also, a trip to the pub or getting some free
drinks at a gallery opening with your friends
never hurts!!
In your opinion, What role does the artist
have in society??
Mmm that’s a tough one. In truth, we don’t
know a conclusive answer to that question;
society seems to move into unknown territory
with such speed that it’s hard to pin point an
exact moment where many things, including
the arts and the artist fit. Maybe it’s just to offer people the chance to experience something
that may alter how they see the world around
them, whether it’s a crumpled up ball of A4
paper or a giant slab of concrete, art (and
artists) can help people punctuate the world
around them with Easter eggs; realizing that
everyday objects have the potential to be art
objects makes the world a little more exciting.

www.sidandjim.com

Erika
Stearly
Pennsylvania, USA

Convinced that contemporary realities are complex enough to sustain multiple approaches to painting, I integrate representational image-making with abstractionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emphasis on materiality and mark-making to depict the clutter of household objects. As their
titles suggest, these paintings depict actual residences, balancing an impulse to faithfully render the objects against the emphasis
on the hand of the artist. The coexistence of abstraction and representation, along with the liminal hybrid of the two, serve to
orient the viewer, inviting them to construct their own narrative of the scene.

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Art Reveal Magazine

Briefly describe the work you do.
I have an ongoing series that depicts the domestic spaces where
people live, a few of which are featured here. I am also the Creator and Director of an interactive painting installation called
Take a Painting, which travels around and encourages a curious public to engage with art and art-making. Hundreds of
small paintings on paper are displayed on the wall in a grid,
along with instructions for viewers to help themselves to a
painting. Art supplies are provided for participants to create
their own paintings, which I embed back into the installation for
other people to take. And within the last two years, I have really
embraced collage-making, both as something that enhances the
paintings and as a way to make something besides paintings.
When, how and why started your art practice?
There was never a decision to start a studio practice. I’ve been
drawing and painting things as far back as I can remember;
this is something I will always be compelled to do. The materials that I use and the scale of the work that I make are influenced by practicalities. I started working with water based
paint when I started teaching water based painting classes.
I developed a traveling studio kit so I can make small paintings in bars and coffeehouses when I don’t have access to a
studio space. I started making paintings on paper because
they are easier to store than paintings on canvas.
Do you think of yourself as a conceptual artist?
Not especially. I consider myself to be a painter, because the
work that I made primarily deals with materials, traditions,
and dialogues within the discipline of painting. My motivation
for making work emphasizes art-making as a daily meditative
practice, rather than communicating a message to the world.
How has your work changed in the past years?
The first painting I made of an interior space is hanging in my
living room, I’m sentimental about it. In the 6 or 7 years since
then, I’ve made hundreds of paintings of domestic spaces.
I can see an evolution in scale and materials, and the content
is more nuanced now.
How would you describe the art scene in your area?
It’s really eclectic. I live in a rural part of Pennsylvania with a
strong folk art tradition, but I’m a quick drive away from the cosmopolitan art scenes in Philadelphia and New York City. Strong
regional university arts programs attract young people, but there
is a close-knit community of local artists who have been making
work for decades and have such great insights. Since it is a rural
place, it can be hard to spontaneously encounter other artists, but
there is always the internet… like I said, it’s eclectic.

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In your opinion what does art mean in contemporary
culture?
Within a contemporary context, I think art is generated by a
large group of individuals in order to be appropriated by and
adapted to the needs of individuals in a large group. Without
the distance of time to say why a creative work is or is not significant, we spend our time trying to assign meaning to them
or trying to contextualize them. I don’t believe art is limited
to the things we preserve in museums, either; food packaging
in grocery stores, Halloween costumes, and children’s book
illustrations are examples of the influence of art on contemporary culture.
What are your future plans?
2017 will be a busy year for me. Take a Painting will be traveling to several states in the US, there are two or three solo
exhibitions of the domestic spaces scheduled, and I am looking
forward to debuting a few hundred new collages next spring.
There might also be a printmaking project and a mural commission. I’m feeling optimistic.

www.erikastearly.com

Thomas Walker
Loughborough, UK

The intention of my work has been to investigate a representation of Masculinity in order to portray the
impossibility of its physical existence in our reality. My exploration into a single point of Ideology is to
create a catalytic discussion of the in-human perfection of an Ideal; a socially formed concept that exists
purely theoretically and cannot be actualized in a single object or entity. To truly become what is known
as Masculine the ties to a human existence, an existence of imperfection, must be lost, therefore to represent it as I have it must be beyond our understanding and capabilities, rending the need for its vulgarity.
Therefore my project elicits any actions taken by an individual to become Masculine, or to be intentionally
categorized within any Ideological framework to bound by its futility. I am fascinated in the human condition present in Western culture and the in-human fixation upon ideals that are pushed upon us so forcibly.
Though specifically developing work in relation to Masculinity, my projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aim is to inspire discussion
around the existence of Ideology and the general fixation we as humans have in categorizing social relations in terms of Ideology.
The reason behind specifically choosing Masculinity as a topic therefore has no intention of judging its
position in a social context. This project is simply a means to investigate the presence of Masculinity
I witness in the dominantly male orientated social structure in my context, most recently that of Loughborough University.
I have used the conceptual framework of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Ideology Incâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, a dystopian company set in the distant future
as a fictional institute that has manifested Masculinity as a product to be bought and sold. The narrative
of this corporate structure is a tool I have used within my project to comment on the present capitalistic
affiliation of publicity and advertising shaping identity through the commodification of Ideology; I.e When
buying this perfume you will become more feminine, more beautiful, more eloquent etc... Ideology Inc is
a supplier that no longer requires a physical medium (a product) to be consumed indirectly in order to
sell Masculinity, their product is simply Masculinity itself. Within this narrative structure there are two
figures: Masculinity and The Worker.
By analysing other peoples conceptions of Masculinity and relating it to my own understanding I started
by representing what I found as key aspects of its make up and expressed these qualities in extreme depictions: the aggression, the sexual dominance, the hunter gatherer complex, the power within physical
stature. The contradiction and impossibility of physically representing a single embodiment of Ideology,
in this case Masculinity, meant that I progressed into using a fictional narrative.

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Art Reveal Magazine

Briefly describe the work you do.
I experiment through a range of different mediums to develop
a commentary upon specific social structures that I identify.
Although newly forming, one theme that can be consistently
witnessed within my practice is the use of fictional paradigms
as a way to translate meaning. I am fascinated in using the
childlike relationship between the observer and the performance of a fictional entity as a rhetorical tool.
When, how and why started your art practice?
There is one figure I admired in particular at school that
had a beautifully obscure talent of redefining Art every
day. Art became a new, gorgeously odd, activity to tackle.
The playfulness and sometimes ridiculousness of the tasks
given to myself and other unsuspecting art students kept
the entire experience light hearted and truly experimental.
Throughout the general boredom that was academia, Art at
this moment shone out as a vastly different way of thinking
and I found that incredibly gripping. The seemingly irrational environment that was created around the subject of

Art at this stage of my schooling is in no doubt a huge contributor to the way my art practice has and will develop.
Do you think of yourself as a conceptual artist?
I certainly do. Each work relates to a line of enquiry and poses
no realist answer.
How has your work changed in the past years?
One of the largest shifts within my work has been my association with the collaborative group The Reading Group.
Fed up of being shown images of Marcel Duchampâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Urinal in damp projection rooms we (Loughborough University students) decided to get together and discussâ&#x20AC;Ś stuff,
democratically chosen stuff. Initially discussing literature,
hence the name, we quickly moved onto to experimenting
with performance. The Reading Group is still in full force
and is a fantastic platform for informed and progressive Art
work. The Reading Group has redefined the way I work because it has introduced me to some exceptional characters

Art Reveal Magazine

that have passion for what they do and a real
energy for sharing that which they do.
How would you describe the art scene in your
area?
The Art scene of Loughborough is defined by
a small selection of individuals who produce
within a vacancy of culture. The culture of
this small market town has been swamped into
destitution by the capitalistic rhetoric that has
engrossed the majority of all activity within
it. It feels fragmented in a way. There may be
some individuals pushing for some notion of
social identity but their attempts, I guess, feel
over shadowed by the corporate advertising
that litters every view point of the high street.
This being the case in the majority of Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
towns and cities I would say the current art
scene in Loughborough is realistic by itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s almost non-existence. It sits still though, like
a blank canvas, waiting for someone to start
experimenting.
In your opinion what does art mean in contemporary culture?
For me Art is a means of enjoying and participating in the complexity and unquantifiability of
reality. The value systems placed onto an object
within contemporary culture is defined by that
objects susceptibility to categorisation and of
economic reduction: if that object can be summarized conceptually and made rational it can be
packaged and shipped as knowledge as a tool to
advance an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social standing. Art is a
detachment from this. There will always be those
structures that seek to define it as an entity that
lies within their control, but I believe there is no
right or wrong edifice of Art within contemporary
culture and that only through self-exploration
within the elusive and beautifully humanistic language of Art can a meaning be constructed.
What are your future plans?
I like to work in a fluid context and predominantly
outside so I am planning on constructing a mobile studio space from some form of pre-existing
vehicle in order to travel, produce and sell Art
simultaneously. Scotland is a beautiful place.
I may start there.

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www.thomashwalker.com

Marissa
Wedenig
Vienna, Austria

The most important thing for me is the message that I want
to convey. I choose the medium in which I work based on the
idea, trying to find the medium that would best express it.
Usually my works take on the form of paintings, films
or installations. This work was an installation that used sound,
found object and painting to express the outward and inward
search for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;what is home and where is home when one has
grown up between different cultures or countriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Briefly describe the work you do.
Ever since I seriously considered being an artist, I have been asking myself what can I bring to the table and what is it that I can
and want to speak about through art? What is relevant to me and
others, and how can I present it in a nutshell? These questions
have lead me to observe the ways in which one acts or conducts
oneself towards oneself, towards the other or the mass of others.
In short my interests lie in the human condition and its reality.
The work I do is very concept driven that means the medium
and material choice is a result of the concept I am trying to
visualize. The aesthetic choices I make are inspired by allegories and metaphors in literary works, the human condition, and
things that do not always appear to be what they are. I often use
my surrounding aesthetics and social environment as material.
I am interested in crafting a message that is open to interpretation and unexpected meaning.

Tell us a little about your background and how that influences you.
I grew up traveling around a lot (Austria / USA / Latvia) and therefore I was able to witness big contrasts in mentalities. Differing from
countries to sub cultures within these countries. Growing up with
three languages one is also made acutely aware of how perception of
a word changes with each language. I might need a whole sentence
to describe something were as in a nother language I have a word
that describes exactly what I am trying to express. I guess seeing this
diversity in human perception is what interests me the most and has
played a big role in how I have structured my direction in art.
The work one can see depicted here are from my most resent
work „SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT“, which is a work
based on my personal experience dealing with the questions
“What is home, where is home and how is home defined? Does
home necessarily have to be the place where one was born?“

What art do you most identify with?

How would you describe the art scene in your area?

I see my artworks in the context of conceptual art.
What is the most challenging part about working with new
media?

Vienna has a small but very active art scene. In terms of art being produces I do feel like there is some predilection towards a
certain type of art. Never the less I think it’s a good home-base
to work in. Not too distracting and not boring.

I enjoy working with new media I think it can be really exciting,
but it takes a lot of time and dedication to create.

What advice can you give to those who are just starting out
in the arts?

Name three artists you’d like to be compared to.

*Sing* “Work, work, work, work, work, work”

I identify strongly with Félix González-Torres work, in
its delicate sense of visualizing the emotional state and
evoking empathy in the viewer. I have many artists that
I find inspirational (Kimsooja, Cristo and Claude, Ai
Weiwei, Peter Doig etc.) but I would not compere myself
to any of them.

What are your future plans?
I will be going to Lisbon and Berlin in each place I plan to do an exhibition.
Also, I am having a new group exhibition coming up in the Zurich Kantonalbank in March. At the moment I am also working on a new experimental short
film, so basically just keep on doing stuff and moving forward that’s the plan.